President Obama announced on Monday that the pharmaceutical industry has collectively agreed to dramatically reduce the cost of prescription drugs, including brand name drugs, to Medicare beneficiaries facing the dreaded donut hole in the program’s Plan D prescription option.  The…

The consulting firm, PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC), has released a report that projects a 9% rise in healthcare costs employers can expect to pay in 2010.  The report also projects employers will pass some of that cost along to its insured employees,…

“Unless you’re Warren Buffett, your family is just one serious illness away from bankruptcy,” said Dr. David Himmelstein, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.  He described the situation as “frightening” in a news release issued by the Physicians…

President Barack Obama has issued the call for the medical insurance industry to produce significant reform so millions of Americans still uncovered or underinsured by the healthcare insurance industry can obtain affordable medical care and to rein in the skyrocketing…

In an about-face to their stance during the Clinton Administration, leaders of the nation’s healthcare industry have promised to cut prices in response to the Obama Administration’s vow to resolve the healthcare crisis and make health care available to every…

As US lawmakers become more deeply entrenched in negotiations to devise a public healthcare plan that will provide fair and effective health insurance coverage to all Americans, including the 50 million Americans now without any coverage at all, the health…

After several years of tremendous success with its $4 generic prescription drug program, Wal-Mart teamed up with Caterpillar Co. last September to bring an expanded version of the discount drug program to the 70,000 Caterpillar employees and their dependents.  This…

As many as 20% of all Medicare patients released from a hospital will be readmitted again within 30 days.  These unplanned readmissions are often the result of missed or inadequate follow-up care recommended upon release from the first hospitalization.  Rehospitalization,…

Chief executive officers (CEOs) of major US companies gather each year for a Business Roundtable in which they discuss the issues affecting their businesses.  This year, health care is a hot topic and the consensus is that the current dismal…

It’s official.  The nation’s healthcare system is in crisis and President Barack Obama vowed, on his campaign trail, to fix it.  He’s taken the first step toward doing just that by convening representatives from his White House Cabinet, Congress, the…

About $1.1 billion of the economic stimulus package just approved by Congress is devoted to comparing the merits and risks of the differing treatment options a patient and physician face when determining the best course of medical care for any…

The US Senate passed a bill that extends healthcare coverage to 4 million children and the bill met with overwhelming approval of the US House of Representatives today.  Passage in both chambers of Congress allows President Barack Obama to sign…

In a move that has raised the ire of many a Georgia legislator, Governor Sonny Perdue has proposed a plan to tax hospitals and health insurers, a move he wants as a means of offsetting a growing demand for Medicaid…

Countless Americans have known it since 1985, when the federal government approved the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) but either suffered in silence or their cries of foul play were ignored.  Now, however, with the current economic meltdown hitting…